Speed reading offers enormous benefits for everyone in daily life, especially for business people, students, and for anyone who does a lot of reading.
With vast amounts of information coming at us every day, investing a little time in learning strategies for faster reading makes sense. Imagine zipping through your email in half the time, or whipping through the social media updates of your friends and responding quickly.
However, since speed reading strategies take time to learn and you’re busy already, you’re probably wondering why you should bother adding yet another “must do” item to your To-Do list.
Let’s look at some reasons why you should learn speed reading.
1. Empowerment: you’re comfortable wherever you are.
People judge you: every day, by every word that comes out of your mouth. If you’re in a business meeting, you’ll hesitate to put forward your point of view if you’re not sure of your facts. Reading (and comprehension of what you’re reading) gives you facts you can turn into knowledge.
In social situations, you’re comfortable with your friends. They know you. However, at parties, you need things to talk about. And when others are discussing topics, you need an opinion. Speed reading the news—from world events to gossip—gives you lots of topics for social chatting.
2. Money: you can access better employment.
Money means freedom and security for you and your loved ones. Whether you want promotion in your current job, or want a better job, knowledge is power.
If you want a promotion, you need to stand out. Online courses and formal advanced education help you to do that. Getting a degree or an advanced degree makes you more attractive to potential employers in general. Equally, having a degree or a certification that others angling for promotion don’t have increases your value to your employer. That increased value translates into a better income.
Speed reading helps you to improve your education: you’ll easily manage all the course work that further education demands.
3. Strengthened personality traits: you’ll become more confident.
How comfortable are you speaking to your boss? If you understand your company, its competitors, the current marketplace, and the financial news, you’ll feel confident that you can handle his or her questions. You’ll confidently make suggestions for your department and the business as a whole.
What about putting your point of view across to someone you know will disagree with you? Are you comfortable doing that? In both situations, you’ll feel at ease if you’re well-read: learning to speed read is the key.
4. Enhanced memory: you’ll remember more easily.
Speed reading not only makes you a faster reader, it increases your understanding as well. When you understand why a topic or a fact is important, you’ll remember it. Your improved memory will extend to other areas in your life as well.
Since memory is an aspect of creativity, you’ll also find that you’re more creative in everything you do.
5. More opportunities: you’ll enhance your ability to learn.
Do you have problems focusing on tasks? Speed reading skills help with your focus, too. You’ll be more interested in everything you read and combined with your enhanced creativity, you’ll find yourself eager to extend your education. Your increased education leads to more and better opportunities.
6. Sophistication: your thinking will improve.
Speed reading can affect the neuroplasticity of your brain. It helps your brain to map new connections. This means that only does your creativity improve, your thinking does also.
7. Experience less stress: focusing is a meditative skill.
Do you find it hard to focus on tasks? Information comes at us in so many ways, many people try to multi-task to get more done. This leads to fragmented attention and overall inefficiency. Speed reading teaches you to focus on. This relieves stress, just as meditation does.
8. Enhanced ambition: you’ll be inspired to climb your career ladder.
With a better memory, fresh creativity, improved thinking abilities and the ability to focus on tasks, you’ll find that you become more ambitious. Your world expands. You’ll be ready and eager to climb the career ladder in your field.
9. Thought leadership: the more you know, the more you can innovate.
Thought leaders in any field innovate. They’re innovative because they use what they know. They cross-pollinate ideas:
"Being able to connect and combine non-obvious ideas and objects is essential for innovation and a key part of the creative-thinking process. Along with your ability to reframe problems, it engages your imagination and thereby unlocks your innovation engine."– Tina Seelig
Speed reading may just lead you to the next billion-dollar idea—and the ability to implement that idea.
10. Enhanced problem-solving skills.
Everyone has challenges. Your subconscious mind can solve them. Speed reading allows you to stream more information to your subconscious mind. With more information, your subconscious can solve your problems.
Source: Lifehack
